Case 332: Bruce Miller

In November 1999, Bruce Miller, a scrapyard owner in Michigan, was found murdered in what looked like a robbery gone wrong. After three months with no solid leads, investigators feared the case would go cold. But hundreds of miles away in Missouri, the suicide of former detective Jerry Cassaday led to the discovery of a mysterious briefcase – one that held a shocking secret.
---
Narration – Anonymous HostResearch & writing – Milly RasoCreative direction – Milly RasoProduction & music – Mike MigasAudio editing – Anthony Telfer
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Episode Transcript

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file on your preferred platform. On Friday, February eleven, two thousand,

(01:46):
Mike Cassiday cut his work day short to make a
difficult drive. He had just received the devastating news that
his younger brother, thirty nine year old Jerry Cassaday, had
been founded dad at his home in Odessa, Missouri. Mike
arrived at Jerry's apartment just as a sheriff's deputy and

(02:07):
a funeral home director were preparing to remove his brother's
body from the residents. Jerry, who lived alone, had been
discovered by a concerned neighbor slumped in a chair with
a self inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Mike knew
that his brother had been struggling lately with his mental health,

(02:29):
mounting bills, and a recent divorce, but he never imagined
things would end this way. After a brief conversation with
the officials, he entered Jerry's apartment. The reddish brown, plush recliner,
which normally sat in front of the television in the corner,
had been moved to face a trio of windows overlooking

(02:51):
a nearby lake. It was there in that chair that
Jerry had taken his life with his twenty two caliber rifle,
A row of framed family photos lined the window sill
in front of him, and a bible on his lap
was open on the Gospel of Matthew. You shall not

(03:12):
murder a verse rad and anyone who murders will be
subject to judgment. Forty eight year old Bruce Miller was

(03:46):
not known for his punctuality, so when he failed to
arrive home on time on the evening of Monday, November eighth,
nineteen ninety nine, it was easy to assume he was
just running late as usual, but his wife, Sharie felt differently.
She had ordered takeout for the family and Bruce was
supposed to pick it up on his way home from

(04:07):
work at B and D Auto Salvage, a scrap yard
in his hometown of Flint, Michigan that he owned and operated.
Cherie had last spoken to Bruce shortly after six pm,
as he was preparing to close up shop. She had
called to let him know their food was ready to
be picked up, and as they chatted casually, Bruce mentioned

(04:28):
a truck had just pulled up right outside his office.
Assuming it was a late customer, he told Cheri he'd
try to hurry them along. The last thing she'd heard
was the sound of Bruce's office door opening as someone
stepped inside. When time continued to pass without any word

(04:50):
from Bruce to explain his delay, Chari phoned his office,
but there was no answer. When there was still no
word from him by eight pm, he phoned again, still nothing.
She reached out to several of Bruce's relatives, but given
his notorious habit of running late, they weren't overly concerned.

(05:12):
Bruce's brother, Chuck, had spoken with him at around five
pm and said everything seemed perfectly normal. It also wasn't
unusual for customers to show up at the scrapyard right
before closing time. With the last minute business. Unable to
shake her concern, Charie took Chuck's advice and to drove

(05:33):
to be and the Audo to check on her husband,
bringing one of her sons along for the ride. On
the way, she stopped at the restaurant where they had
ordered dinner. Staff there confirmed that Bruce hadn't come to
pick it up. Cherie then followed the route Bruce typically
took home in Casey's truck had broken down along the way,

(05:57):
but there was no sign of him. When she finally
reached the scrap yard. The front gate was closed, indicating
Bruce had left for the day. Scherie retraced the drive
from the yard back to the restaurant, then home, but
still didn't encounter Bruce or his car. Panicking, she contacted

(06:20):
the local and state police, who confirmed there had been
no reported accidents involving her husband. She called hospitals France
and even Bruce's mother, but no one had seen or
heard from him. At last, Bruce's brother, Chuck, agreed to
had to be in Deorto himself, thinking perhaps Bruce had

(06:41):
been injured on the job and was unable to reach
a phone. Chuck arrived at the dark, isolated property and
let himself in. He drove past the rows of guttered
and totalled cars lining the five hundred yard long driveway
to Bruce's small office building, His concern mounted at the

(07:02):
side of Bruce's truck parked out front. The office was
eerily quiet. As Chuck pushed through the unlocked door, he
found Bruce face down on the floor behind the front counter,
with a dark pool of blood around his head. Bruce's

(07:23):
office appeared undisturbed, leading Chuck to believe his death had
been a tragic accident. Maybe he had leaned too far
back in his rickety metal office chair and tipped over
or suffered a heart attack, collapsing and injuring his head.
But when police arrived, the grim reality became clear. Bruce

(07:47):
had been shot in the throat at close range with
a shotgun. News of Bruce's murder sent shockwaves through Flint.
A lifelong resident, he was known as a hard working,
easygoing family man. In preparation for retiring from a three
decade career testing engines for an automotive manufacturing company, Bruce

(08:11):
poured his spare time and energy into B and D
Auto salvage. It was more a labor of love than necessity.
Tinkering with cars had been a hobby of his since childhood,
making the scrapyard feel more like a personal playground than
a job site. The site itself provided the perfect setting

(08:34):
for a killer to strike unnoticed. B and D Auto
was situated on the remote outskirts of northern Flint, nestled
between a gravel quarry and a stock car racetrack. Acres
of wrecked vehicles surrounded Bruce's office building, which featured a
single window overlooking the dirt driveway. Bruce employed a small

(08:57):
team but none were present at the time of the shooting.
The scrapyard typically attracted DIY mechanics in need of replacement
parts or specialists hunting for valuable components to salvage. There
had never been any serious trouble at the site. Bruce

(09:17):
was a quiet, laid back man whose calm demeanor and
a sense of humor didn't invite conflict. As a result,
there was no clear suspect or motive, leaving police to
speculate that the killing must have been random. Scrapyards often
drew shady characters and be and Diordo was no exception.

(09:40):
Perhaps Bruce had angered a customer who reacted violently. Robbery
was another possibility. Bruce's wallet was missing, along with the
two thousand dollars he was known to carry in his
front shirt pocket to make change for his customers. The
missing money took on greater significance when investigators spoke to

(10:04):
Bruce's devastated wife, Cherie. She revealed that one of Bruce's
former employees, a man named John Hutchinson, owed him two
thousand dollars. Interestingly, Hutchinson was a prime suspect in a
long running auto fraud investigation, and it was believed he

(10:24):
had used Bruce's scrapyard to carry out his scam. In fact,
fraud investigators had visited b and D Auto the day
before Bruce's murder to speak with him about Hutchinson. The
conversation never happened, as Bruce wasn't at work when they
stopped by. John Hutchinson's brother, Harold, also worked at the yard.

(10:49):
Harold told the detectives that weeks earlier, his brother had
confided in him that he was planning to kill Bruce
in connection with the fraud case. The morning after the shooting,
Harold claimed his brother told him he had disposed of
his problems at band di Auto. It seemed plausible that

(11:12):
Bruce had planned to report his rogue former employee to
the police, giving Hutchinson a motive to kill him before
he could talk. While Harold Hutchinson's claims supported this theory,
investigators had to proceed with caution. Harold had a mild
intellectual disability, and they suspected he was easily influenced, potentially

(11:35):
saying what he thought they wanted to hear. He therefore
wouldn't be considered a reliable witness in court. Seeking more
concrete evidence, detectives went to speak with the John Hutchinson directly.
Hutchinson appeared surprised when police arrived at his home to

(11:57):
question him and to conduct a search. They seized several firearms,
including three shotguns, although Hutchinson claimed he hadn't fired any
of them in over two years. When told that he
was the primary suspect in Bruce Miller's murder, Hutchinson insisted
he had nothing to hide. He admitted to stealing car

(12:20):
parts from B and D Auto during his employment and
burglarizing the scrap yard multiple times since his termination. He
also confessed to committing fraudulent acts while working there, including
altering vehicles identification numbers and rolling BACKO doometers to mislead buyers.

(12:40):
There was no indication that Bruce was involved in or
had any knowledge of the scam. While Hutchinson had discussed
his legal issues with his brother Harold, he denied ever
plotting to kill Bruce. He admitted he owed Bruce two
thousand dollars and had been avoiding him because he couldn't
pay it back, but insisted he would never have killed

(13:03):
Bruce over a small amount of money. Despite being laid
off the previous year, he said that the two had
once been close. Still, investigators were struck by Hutchinson's flat,
a motionless tone when discussing Bruce's death. His response seemed
strangely detached for someone who claimed to have once been

(13:25):
a good friend. I did not shoot him, Hutchinson told
them calmly, even going so far as to request a
light detector test. The polygraph was brief. When asked about
his involvement in or knowledge of Bruce's murder, Hutchinson firmly
responded no, though oddly he nodded his head as he spoke. Afterwards,

(13:54):
Hutchinson was stunned to learn that he had failed the test.
He attributed the result to unrelated stress and anxieties, which
he claimed had affected his composure. Hutchinson continued to assert
his innocence and even offered to retake the test. Hutchinson

(14:14):
took a second test with a lawyer present. Once again,
he nodded his head despite answering no to key questions.
He also exhibited other peculiar behaviors, such as frequent burbing,
as if trying to influence the result. Just like before,
the machine indicated deception, Hutchinson diverted attention away from himself

(14:41):
by revealing he might have told someone that Bruce carried
large sums of cash in his shirt pocket, though he
refused to name anyone specifically. This led investigators back to
the robbery theory, though they remained skeptical of John Hutchinson.

(15:01):
Despite being under a cloud of suspicion, John Hutchinson joined
the solemn crowd of mourners offering their condolences to Bruce's
grieving family at his memorial service. With tears in his eyes.
He shook Chuck Miller's hand and said, I can't believe
they're saying I killed your brother. Chuck replied evenly, I

(15:25):
hoped to hell you didn't have anything to do with
my brother's death. After viewing Bruce's body in the open casket,
Hutchinson approached Scherie Miller, draped his arm around her shoulder,
and quietly offered an apology. Cherie said nothing in response,
but when Hutchinson walked away to mingle with others, she erupted.

(15:50):
She ordered that he be escorted out, shouting he's the
one who killed my husband. Hutchinson, visibly shaken by the outburst,
left without protest. The investigation into John Hutchinson hit a
roadblock when forensic testing confirmed that none of his three

(16:11):
shotguns matched the murder weapon, and while the scrapyard office
was cluttered and grimy, it yielded no physical evidence linking
anyone else to the crime. Maybe the killer was not
some bungling, opportunistic thief, as investigators initially believed, but someone
with a deeper understanding of forensic procedures, careful and calculated

(16:35):
enough to leave no trace. With few leads, emerging investigators
turned their attention to those closest to Bruce, but no
one appeared to benefit meaningfully from his death. Although Bruce
had died without a will, the bulk of his modest
estate was set to go to his mother and two

(16:57):
adult children from a previous marriage. His children were also
due to receive seventy eight thousand dollars from an insurance payout.
While Scherie Miller inherited the scrapyard, she sold it for
minimal profit, leaving her with sixteen thousand dollars in savings
and a meager amount from Bruce's stocks and pension funds.

(17:21):
None of it seemed compelling enough reward to justify murder.
Alibis among the group were verified, including that of Bruce's
brother Chuck, further narrowing the pool of potential suspects. As
nineteen ninety nine came to a close, police expanded their search,

(17:42):
interviewing transients known to frequent the area around the scrapyard
and issuing public appeals for information, But as months passed
without a breakthrough, they feared the case was growing cold.
Three months after Bruce Miller's murder, nearly eight hundred miles

(18:04):
away in Odessa, Missouri, thirty nine year old Jerry Cassaday
died by suicide. A former detective lieutenant, Jerry was once
known as the Chameleon for his ability to blend in
with criminals and illicit confessions through casual conversation. He was
so skilled at spotting and unraveling lies that he held

(18:27):
the highest case clearance and confession rate in his metropolitan area.
Jerry loved his job and was highly respected by colleagues,
who described him as one of the good ones for
his unwavering commitment to honesty. When Jerry started noticing other
officers cutting corners, bending rules, and crossing legal boundaries in

(18:49):
the line of duty, he grew disillusioned. His breaking point
came when he discovered that falsified police records had been
used to convict a murder suspect. He blew the whistle,
leading to the dismissal of the officer responsible. In turn,
Jerry paid a steep personal price. He was unofficially demoted

(19:13):
and endured relentless harassment both on and off the job.
Broken by the whole experience, he resigned from the force
in nineteen ninety four. He later found work as a
casino security guard, eventually moving up to a position as
table games dealer. While he was valued and well liked

(19:36):
by players and co workers, he was no longer the
man he once was. The optimism that had defined him
was replaced by bitterness, paranoia, and deep depression. He mixed
his prescription medications with alcohol until his emotional instability broke
down his marriage. On Tuesday, February nine to Dax one thousand,

(20:01):
Jerry sat by his apartment window, gazing out at a
lake as country music played in the background. Lined up
on the window sill were carefully arranged photographs. Among them
were pictures of his three sons, aged fourteen to twenty,
and his ex wife. Her image also appeared on the

(20:23):
home screen of his nearby computer. Their wedding rings lay
next to the photos, and a copy of their divorce
decree sat on a lamp table beside him. Jerry opened
a Bible on his lap to the Gospel of Matthew,
took his twenty two caliber rifle and ended his life.

(20:45):
Jerry's body was discovered two days later, on Friday, February eleven.
A preliminary search of his apartment by first responders turned
up no suicide notes or clear explanation for his actions. However,
they did find several bottles of prescribed antidepressants and a
report from a mental health center detailing a recent stay.

(21:11):
Given his ongoing struggles, the evidence of the scene, and
reports that Jerry had recently spoken about suicide, the case
was deemed unsuspicious and closed on the same morning that
his body was found. Jerry's loved one spent the rest
of the day at his apartment, processing their grief and
sorting through his belongings. While going through Jerry's bedroom, his

(21:36):
older brother Mike, crouched to check under the bed when
something caught his eye, a brown leather briefcase. The discovery
was not entirely unexpected. Three months Earlier, in November nineteen
ninety nine, Jerry had called Mike to say he was
going to the family's lake cabin for a couple of

(21:57):
days to clear his head. Before leaving, he made an
odd remark there was a briefcase under his bed, and
if he didn't return within two days, Mike was to
retrieve it and to follow the instructions. Jerry returned as
promised and never mentioned the briefcase again. The strange incident

(22:21):
faded from Mike's memory until he stumbled upon the briefcase.
After Jerry's death, several sealed envelopes were taped to the front,
each marked in Jerry's unmistakable handwriting. One was addressed to
his parents, another to his youngest son, and a third

(22:41):
to his ex wife. Strangely, the final envelope featured the
contacted details of an attorney based in Kansas City. Scrawled
across this envelope was the chilling instruction to Mike he
had previously forewarned. It read, Mike, do not open alone.

(23:05):
Mike took the briefcase, stashed it in the trunk of
his car, then placed a call to the attorney listed
on the envelope, John O'Connor was a high profile criminal
defense lawyer who had crossed paths with the Jerry Cassaday
during his years in law enforcement, usually when representing clients
Jerry was trying to convict. Despite being on opposite sides

(23:29):
of the court room, the two men shared mutual respect
and had gotten along well. John was at home on
Friday February eleven when Mike Cassaday called. He was stunned
to learn that Jerry had taken his own life, and
even more so that his contact details had been found

(23:49):
on a briefcase hidden under his bed. John arranged to
meet with the Cassadays to examine the contents of the
case together. Even what the family shared about Jerry's troubles,
John approached the situation with caution. He feared that the
briefcase might contain some form of revenge for the slides

(24:11):
Jerry had endured throughout his life. Rather than opening it himself,
John handed the case over to Kansas City Police's bomb
disposal unit. The team agreed to inspect it for explosives
without examining or disturbing its contents. Carefully, they popped open

(24:33):
one of the latches to get a glimpse inside case
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our quality content. The Internet had opened up a new
world for Jerry Cassaday. It offered a welcome escape from

(26:02):
the real world troubles weighing on him from his fall
from grace in the police force to his impending divorce,
he quickly became immersed in the world Wide Web, spending
hours in online chat rooms, mostly talking to women. Between
April and May nineteen ninety nine, Jerry began telling friends

(26:22):
and family about a twenty seven year old woman he'd
met online. They first connected on a forum about Reno, Nevada,
where they exchanged tips about the city. From there, they
began emailing, messaging, and calling each other regularly. Despite their
ten year age difference, Jerry felt they had a lot

(26:44):
in common. The woman was a divorced mother of three
from Michigan and was financially well off thanks to several
businesses she owned. Jerry's friends and family were incredulous. They
knew him to be hopeless, romantic, someone easily swept up
in relationships fueled by passion. In those moments, he often

(27:08):
set aside the critical thinking that had made him a
skilled detective, becoming overly trusting and asking too few questions.
Given his ongoing struggles, they saw him as especially vulnerable
and worried he was diving headfirst into a reckless situation
with someone he hadn't even met. To Jerry's loved ones,

(27:30):
his online romance seemed less like a genuine connection and
more like a source of emotional validation. But to Jerry,
the love he felt was real. In mid July nineteen
ninety nine, Jerry's online crush agreed to fly out to
meet him in person for the first time. Jerry was

(27:52):
beside himself with excitement. He told anyone who would listen,
gushing about how beautiful, charming, and wonderful this woman was.
Any doubts others had raised were silenced the moment the
two met in person. The woman was exactly who she
claimed to be online, a young, vibrant and petite, blue

(28:15):
eyed blonde who drew attention wherever she went. Her name
was Scherie Miller. After months of seducing each other online,
Jerry and Shari fell into a whirlwind romance. Two outsiders,
they resembled infatuated high schoolers, defining their brief time together

(28:37):
with intense physical affection. After they parted ways, Jerry wrote
Shari a long email describing their encounter as profoundly meaningful.
He wrote that the day they met marked a new beginning,
free from the emptiness that had defined his thirty eight years.
Cherie had brought purpose and desire to his life that

(29:00):
had previously felt aimless. That one special night, an angel
came to me, Jerry wrote, She opened my eyes, she
opened my heart, and she taught me what it is
to truly love from deep within. From what Jerry understood,

(29:21):
Cherie was married to a man named Jeff Miller. Jeff
had been the love of her life until he was
mortally injured while constructing their dream home. With his prognosis grimm,
Jeff was moved into a nursing home, where Cherie visited
regularly with her young children and took on the role

(29:42):
of his caretaker. She told Jerry she was supported through
this difficult time by Jeff's older brother, Bruce, who had
been a tremendous help. Then, during a second meet up
with the Jerry in August, Cherie abruptly returned to Michigan
after a dad, receiving devastating news Jeff had passed away,

(30:06):
just when it seemed that Jerry and Cherie could finally
be together. She shared more troubling news. After Jeff's death,
Out of obligation to his family, Cherie had quickly remarried,
this time to Jeff's brother Bruce. Although Bruce had confessed

(30:27):
to having always loved her. Cherie admitted she had serious
reservations about their marriage. Bruce, a car wrecker old enough
to be her father, had never been someone she viewed romantically.
Their personalities were starkly different. Years of hard outdoor labor

(30:47):
and working two jobs had taken their toll on Bruce.
With his children grown and gone, he was easing into
the slower pace of retirement. He lived simply and frug
content to spend long days at his scrap yard, dismantling
and repairing cars. Cherie, on the other hand, was impulsive,

(31:09):
pleasure seeking and loved to go out. She spent freely
and had a constant craving for excitement, attention, and intimacy.
Bruce struggled to keep up. While Jerry Cassaday was drawn
to Chari's vivaciousness, he wasn't happy about her marriage to
Bruce Miller. His apprehension grew when she revealed that Bruce

(31:34):
was involved in counterfeiting, money laundering and illicit drugs. She
also confided that Bruce was exploiting her wealth, though she
was reluctant to confront him in fear of his criminal connections.
According to Scharie, she didn't marry Bruce for love, but
because she didn't want to lose the close friendship they

(31:55):
had built. She maintained that her feelings for Jerry remained unchanged.
Jerry reciprocated her devotion, writing in an email to her,
you are as usual on my mind and in my heart.
I love you and truly hope all works out. According

(32:20):
to Scheri, Bruce was aware of her affair with the
Jerry Cassaday, he didn't seem overly concerned, chalking it up
to lingering emotional baggage she carried after Jeff's death. In
her emails to Jerry, Cherie brought up the idea of divorce,
admitting her marriage had been rushed and ill considered. Yet

(32:43):
Bruce wasn't willing to let her go easily. He convinced
her to take a long vacation with him in an
effort to repair their relationship. Jerry was disheartened by Cheri's
willingness to capitulate to Bruce. She insisted it was the
safest option, warning that Bruce had threatened to make any

(33:05):
separation long, messy, and painful if she didn't try to
fix things first. Nevertheless, the situation weighed heavily on Jerry,
with the tangled love triangle adding turmoil to his already
unstable life. Cheri tried to reassure him endlessly, talking about

(33:25):
their future together and describing their bond as boundless. Jerry
agreed wholeheartedly, but Cheri's reluctance to fully commit eventually pushed
him away. In time, he began ignoring her messages. Sensing
his retreat, Cherie stopped discussing the mounting conflict between herself

(33:49):
for Jerry and Bruce, and instead flooded him with racy,
sexually charged messages and photos to reignite his last She
even mailed Jerry an explicit home video of herself to
further entice him, but it was an entirely different video
that struck a chord in Jerry. Cheri had filmed herself

(34:12):
and her children going about their daily lives, singing karaoke,
playing on the lawn, and laughing together. She narrated softly
in the background, crafting an idealized image of a wholesome, joyful,
and drama free family life that could be Jerry's if
only he proved himself worthy. Make me see that nothing

(34:35):
is worth losing this love. She pleaded, make me see
that I need to run as fast as I can
to be there with you in a perfect love. Jerry
was taken in by Shari's declarations and devised a plan.
They were set to meet for the third time in September,

(34:57):
and during that visit, Jerry in tended to sweep her
off her feet. By doing so, he hoped to convince
her to leave Bruce for good. We are about to
embark on a journey no one has ever known, Jerry
wrote to Shari before she arrived. We have both chosen

(35:17):
to leave the life we know behind and venture into
this endeavor together. The weekend they spent together was intimate,
but Charie inevitably returned to Michigan and to Bruce. Still,
Jerry couldn't stay upset for long, as she had left
him with major news she was pregnant, with their child

(35:41):
conceived during their first meeting in July. Jerry was overjoyed.
His friends and family, however, were conflicted. Some saw the
situation as far fetched and remained skeptical of Schari, believing
Jerry still didn't know oh her well enough to trust her.

(36:03):
Even Jerry found himself questioning some of Sheri's claims at times,
but whenever he did, she would slip into self pity,
saying things like I'm sorry you think everything I've said
is a lie. Overcome with guilt, Jerry would abandon his
suspicions and do whatever it took to make things right again.

(36:27):
Cherie also had a tendency to send mixed messages during
visits with the Jerry. She confided in his friends that
she wanted to break ties with him, complaining that he
called and emailed her too much, but whenever Jerry was present,
she appeared to be madly in love. Others worried that

(36:49):
Jerry's unresolved personal and financial issues and the fact that
he still wasn't legally divorced, meant he was in no
position to bring a child into the world. Jerry dismissed
these concerns. To him, the pregnancy was proof that he
had finally won Chari once and for all. It was

(37:10):
only a matter of time before they could begin the
life they dreamed of. Still, Chari refused to leave Bruce
because there was something else going on in Michigan she'd
been keeping secret. In late September, Chari opened up to

(37:30):
Jerry about the reality of her marriage. She revealed that
Bruce controlled her finances, leaving her with a meager amount
of cash to live on. He had also been physically abusive. Jerry,
who had dealt extensively with domestic violence during his time
as a detective, urged Chari to take her kids and leave.

(37:53):
She replied, in all caps, I can't. Chari then confessed
the devastating news that Bruce had violently raped her, resulting
in her miscarrying Jerry's baby. Jerry comforted Cherie, telling her
none of this was her fault and that he still
loved her, but he burned with rage towards Bruce. Cherie

(38:19):
pleaded with him to let her handle it. He will pay.
Scherie wrote how Jerry asked, he will just know that.
The two message laid into the night and picked up
again the next morning. By then, Cherie had begun suggesting

(38:41):
that Bruce should pay for killing their baby. She wondered
if anyone would suspect her if he died under suspicious circumstances.
She didn't think so, given they were viewed as an
ideal couple. Jerry flat out told her it was a
bad idea. He knew better than most that killers often

(39:03):
got caught because they talked too much and tripped over
their own lives. People always offer more information than they
should always, he wrote, Loose lips sink ships fine. Shari replied,
then I will wait here until he dies. The only

(39:25):
other option is waiting until he kills himself or helping
him too. Jerry responded, Chari brainstormed ideas like giving Bruce
more cigarettes, feeding him grease, or finding ways to speed
up cancer. Jerry entertained the discussion, but ultimately returned to

(39:46):
his original advice. Chari should just leave. Murder was too
extreme and partners were always prime suspects. She would never
get away with it, okay, she wrote, you scared me
out of it. Jerry steered the conversation toward planning their

(40:09):
future together, but Scherie reminded him that Bruce was still
an obstacle standing in the way. If he was not living,
it would be easier, she said. Unconvinced, Jerry advised Scharie
on ways she could leave Bruce without causing his death.
He told her to keep a diary documenting Bruce's abuse

(40:32):
for future police investigations, but Chari feared Bruce's reaction if
he ever found it. Jerry even planned to cut back
on his own expenses and pull his modest resources to
get her the funds to flee. He believed that if
Cherie would just abandon Bruce, the quote worthless piece of

(40:54):
shit would self destruct and die on his own volition.
Schari ultimately didn't follow through with the Jerry's advice. To
his dismay, she sought to patch things up with Bruce instead,
while insisting she would leave him eventually. When Jerry expressed

(41:15):
his disappointment, Cherie sank back into self pity and urged
him to walk away, making him feel guilty. But he
couldn't bring himself to quit. That asshole killed our baby,
he fired back. Jerry insisted that no matter what promises
Bruce made, he would eventually hurt Sharie again and maybe

(41:39):
even her children. When they met in person the next time,
Jerry continued to paint a picture of the carefree life
they could share if Cheri just ended things with Bruce
for good. Schari promised to be with the Jerry, but
once again she returned to Michigan. In late October nineteen

(42:04):
ninety nine, Cherie emailed Jerry several photos of herself holding
a positive pregnancy test, announcing joyfully she was pregnant with
his child again. I love you, Jerry replied to the news.
We will be together. We will live a wonderful, happy
life together. But behind the scenes, things were unraveling. Jerry

(42:30):
began receiving taunting messages online from a user named to
b d Junk, who he quickly realized was Bruce Miller.
At first, Jerry ignored Bruce's attempts to provoke him, even
after Bruce learned about Cheri's latest pregnancy, but the messages
kept coming, growing increasingly personal. Bruce targeted Jerry's insecurities and

(42:57):
stoked his jealousy. He claimed Cherie was suffering consequences for
her infidelity and asked whether Jerry felt good knowing she
was hurting because of their love. According to Bruce, tensions
at home were escalating. He boasted of his violence toward
Scherie and claimed that during one argument, she came at

(43:21):
him with a knife. Bruce issued Jerry an ultimatum back
off or he would press charges against Schari for the assault.
She loves me. She is still here with me in
our happy home, Bruce wrote, I guess you're not smart
enough to see she will never leave me. Meanwhile, Cherie

(43:45):
continued to bombard Jerry with reminders of the fears she
lived in, including a photo of Bruce sitting in a
chair staring at the camera. She urged Jerry to notice
the look in Bruce's menacing eyes, the one that terrified her.
The intense saga was taking its toll on Jerry's mental health.

(44:08):
I just don't know what else to say anymore, Jerry replied, disheartened,
this all hurts so much. Overwhelmed and desperate, he confided
his thoughts of suicide. Cherie responded coldly, I would never
stay with such a weak man who would end his

(44:29):
life over a woman. Jerry clung to hope, assuring her
his love would never fade, and expressing his dream that
she would one day become Cherie Cassaday. But Cherie seemed defeated.
After repeatedly refusing Jerry's please to leave Bruce, she started

(44:50):
to blame herself, saying she deserved the abuse. Once again,
she encouraged Jerry to walk away from their relationship. His response,
in bold capital letters, read, I would never have gotten
this far without you, without the promises you made, and

(45:10):
the hope.

Speaker 2 (45:10):
You gave me?

Speaker 3 (45:12):
Was it all lies? Cherie insisted her love for Jerry
was real, but said that Bruce's torment was breaking her.
She barely ate or slapped and worried she was nearing
a breakdown. Leaving Bruce didn't feel like a solution. She

(45:33):
believed he would never stop hunting her and feared retaliation
from his criminal ties. Cherie returned to the idea that
Bruce had to die again. Jerry insisted that death wasn't
the answer. He tried to stay optimistic, reminding her of

(45:53):
their future and the baby, but Cherie remained bleak. When
you have to die in my soul before he dies,
in my sight, I want to live again, and living
is what I will do when he dies. One day,

(46:14):
Shari sent to Jerry a short story she had written
that mirrored her troubled marriage. The story ended with the
tormented woman finally seeing a way out, but she lacked
the quote tool to carry it through. Chari asked to
Jerry to read between the lines. On another occasion, she

(46:35):
encouraged him to watch the film Eye for an Eye,
a psychological thriller about a grieving mother who took justice
into her own hands. Chari also started referring to Jerry
as her guardian angel, telling him it is driving me insane,
trying to find something or someone to help me into this.

(46:58):
I am to the point of going to detri Troit,
picking up a bum on the streets and paying him
a small fortune to do what I want. She later
claimed she was talking to people who could resolve her problems,
and even admitted to obtaining a pistol. Sensing Jerry's disapproval,
she later reassured him that she had cleaned the gun

(47:20):
thoroughly and thrown it in a dumpster. On Friday, October
twenty nine, Shari messaged Jerry with an uncharacteristically jubilant update.
She had just returned from a prenatal checkup and found
out she was carrying twins. She described hearing their heartbeats

(47:40):
as being like hearing a sunrise. Jerry was elated when
he asked for ultrasound photos. Shari claimed Bruce was nearby.
Later that evening, she emailed him four blurry ultrasound images,
followed later by photos of herself cradling her growing belly.

(48:02):
Jerry eagerly saved all the images to his computer. He
expressed the desire to travel to Flint to attend Cheri's
next appointment, but still had no desire to confront Bruce.
By this point, Jerry was trying to turn his life around.
He was attending therapy, reconnecting with his faith, and working

(48:25):
to overcome his addictions. His progress left Schari feeling ashamed
of her own inability to change, Falling back into her
pattern of self pity, she wrote to him, I am
not shit in this world. Their conversations online and over

(48:45):
the phone often ended in arguments. Chari was frustrated that
Jerry didn't grasp how desperate her situation truly was. One morning,
Jerry surprised Shari by announcing he was coming to visit
her in Flint. Her reaction was confusing. Initially shocked and resistant,

(49:08):
she eventually resigned herself to the idea I don't even
know what to say to you today or what to write.
I guess I am going to get ready for work
and then to this, she said, before logging off the internet.
Though her enthusiasm was lacking, she still sent him directions

(49:29):
to B and D Auto Salvage, saying she'd meet him
there when Bruce wasn't around Jerry drove thirteen hours from
Missouri to Michigan, leaving early on Wednesday, November three, nineteen
ninety nine. When he arrived at the scrapyard and met Scharie,
her earlier hesitation seemed to vanish. They spent the night

(49:53):
together at a local motel. Jerry returned home two days later,
where an email from s awaited him. She thanked him
for the visit and apologized for not being able to
stay with them longer. I realized how much you really
do love me, she wrote. Jerry didn't hear from Shari

(50:16):
again for a while. The silence was deafening, as they
were used to exchanging countless emails, instant messages, and phone
calls daily. When an email finally arrived, it wasn't from Chari.
It came from b d Junk, the online account used

(50:36):
by Bruce Miller. The subject line, written in all caps,
read you should read this. The email spanned three pages
and was typed entirely in capital letters. Cherie is growing

(50:57):
fat with two bastards in her Bruce had written. He
claimed Sharie had decided to have an abortion because she
didn't want to gain weight, adding that she'd rather screw
everything in sight than carry Jerry's children. He called the
abortion a smart decision for Jerry, sparing him from paying

(51:18):
child support. For the quote two bastards floating around with
his last name, He also alluded to Jerry and Shari's
recent motel stay, suggesting he knew all about their sneaking around.
Despite this, Bruce taunted that his wife had chosen to

(51:39):
stay with him, referring to her as the little bitch.
The message sent Jerry into a frenzy. He tried calling Scherie,
but she did an answer. He called local hospitals to
see if she had been admitted into ANNIE, with no success.
Exhausting every other option, he emailed Shari, expressing concern and

(52:04):
asking where she was. Hours passed with no response. Then,
just after midday, Jerry received another message from the b
d junk account. This time it didn't appear to be
from Bruce. Jerry, this is Scherie. The message rad, I

(52:26):
am going away for a few days. I will contact
you next week. Sometime two hours later, Bruce's inbox was
flooded with resources for women coping with pregnancy loss sent
from b D junk. Feeling helpless, Jerry replied sadly still

(52:47):
checking for you, honey, love you. The next day, b D.
Junk returned to Jerry's inbox. In his signature all caps style,
he mocked Jr. As a coward for not confronting him directly.
He claimed Cheri had performed sex ax on him the

(53:07):
previous day, all while shouting his name and professing her
love for him. He ended the email with a taunt
thank you for making my relationship with my wife better.
We are on the man's and it's thanks to you.
It was signed Bruce. Hours later, Jerry finally reached Schari

(53:34):
by phone. She denied the abortion story, but said the
truth was far worse. Bruce had flown into a violent rage,
beating and raping her. Two of his scrapyard associates also
took part in the vicious assault. She said it was
retaliation for her relationship with the Jerry, and she feared

(53:58):
the attack would cause another miscarriage. She sent photos of
her injuries to Jerry as proof. His fury was palpable. Exhausted,
Shari said she needed rest and logged offline. In the meantime,
and enraged, Jerry formulated a plan. He called his older

(54:22):
brother Mike Cassaday and said he was heading to the
Cassoday family's lake cabin for a few days to clear
his head. If anything happens to me, Jerry warned, there's
a briefcase under the bed at home. He told Mike
he'd know what to do once he found it. Confused

(54:44):
and concerned by the odd request, Mike urged Jerry to
cancel the trip and explain, but Jerry refused. Before hanging up,
he said that if he wasn't back by six p m.
In two days, time to go get the briefcase. Case

(55:12):
file will be back shortly. Thank you for supporting us
by listening to this episode. Sponsors a Cast recommends Hello, this.

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Thank you for listening to this episode's ads. By supporting
our sponsors, you support case File to continue to deliver
quality content. By the time Mike Cassaday retrieved the briefcase
three months later, on Friday February eleven, two thousand, Jerry

(56:33):
had already died by suicide. After the Kansas City Police
bomb disposal unit cleared the case of containing any hazardous materials,
they handed it back to Mike and criminal defense attorney
John O'Connor, whose contact information Jerry had written on an
envelope taped to the front. Inside was a letter to

(56:53):
John that rad should you receive this letter, then one
of two things has a cur One, I am dead
and need you to see things for me. Secondly, I
would be in jail for something which I would need
your assistance. The latter explained how Jerry had fallen in

(57:15):
love with a woman named Sharie Miller from Michigan, who
was married to a man named Bruce, an organized crime
figure and domestic abuser. The contents of the briefcase filled
in the rest. It held compact discs, photographs, a floppy
disc and a trove of printed emails and online chat transcripts.

(57:39):
Though often disjointed and hard to follow, the materials revealed
a deeply troubled and dangerous love triangle between Jerry, Cherie
and Bruce. The records detailed disturbing claims of domestic violence, pregnancies, miscarriage,
and even gang rape. Supporting these climes were many photos,

(58:01):
including ultrasound images, pictures of Shari cradling her protruding belly,
and others showing her body covered in bruises. Jerry had
meticulously preserved at all, leaving the briefcase to be discovered
if he didn't return from a planned trip to his
family's cabin the previous November. But he did return and

(58:24):
life seemingly resumed as normal. Then three months later, he
inexplicably took his own life inside the briefcase. However was
his explanation. It turned out Jerry hadn't gone to the
lake cabin after all. The printouts of the online chat

(58:47):
transcripts and emails revealed a disturbing turn. After Shari claimed
that Bruce had arranged for her to be gang righted,
Jerry had a change of heart about confronting him. Though
Cheri never explicitly used the word murder, she outlined a
meticulous step by step planned for Jerry to come face

(59:08):
to face with Bruce at B and D Auto Salvage
the following evening. Just do it and get the hell
out of there, she ordered. Meanwhile, she would stay at home,
playing the distressed wife and securing an alibi. Shuri promised
that once it was over, she would finally leave Michigan

(59:30):
to be with the Jerry and raise their babies together.
Her messages were laced with passionate declarations of love, which
Jerry readily returned. Their exchange ended around one forty a m.
On Monday, November eighth, nineteen ninety nine. By Jerry. Shuri

(59:50):
wrote promise to always love me. Within the briefcase, Jerry
provided a detailed confession of what transpired next. He followed
Shari's plan to the latter. By two am, he was
on the road to Michigan, arriving in Flint that afternoon.

(01:00:13):
He waited until six pm, the time Shari said she
would be arranging her takeout dinner alibi. Jerry then drove
down the long dirt road to be into the auto's
office and entered holding his twenty gage shotgun. Bruce sat
stunned behind the front counter. Jerry paused, savoring the moment

(01:00:38):
of having the dreaded Bruce Miller at his mercy. He announced, Hi,
I'm Jerry, then pulled the trigger. As instructed by Scherie.
Jerry took Bruce's wallet and the wad of cash from
his front shirt pocket to stage the crime as a robbery.
He then raced back to Missouri, dismantling the murder weapon

(01:01:01):
along the way and scattering its parts in remote, forgettable
places where they would never be found. To Jerry's complete surprise,
Shari's attitude toward him shifted unexpectedly following Bruce's murder. She
began avoiding his calls and offering only sparse, lukewarm replies

(01:01:22):
to his emails. Jerry's heartfelt declarations of love, once met
with enthusiasm, began to go largely ignored. A month after
Bruce was gunned down, Jerry made an unannounced trip to
Flint to rekindle things with Shari. The pair spent the
night together at a motel, during which he proposed and

(01:01:46):
she accepted, but the moment of joy was short lived.
Jerry returned to Missouri the next day, only to be
met with silence from Shari once again. I haven't written
for some time now, she admitted in one of her
rare emails. I am just depressed today about several things.

(01:02:10):
She told Jerry that while she was happy with him,
a conversation they'd had about money during their motel stay
had upset her. Jerry was running low on funds and,
believing Shari to be wealthy, reasonably assumed she might help him.
After all, he was the father of her two unborn

(01:02:30):
children and had killed for her. But CHERI didn't take
kindly to this request, and after that admission, she withdrew
from him. Jerry's life unraveled further as a result of
Schari's cold shoulder. He sank back into a deep depression,
returning to drugs and alcohol to cope. He confided in

(01:02:54):
family members that he had done something he never thought
himself capable of and couldn't see away. They assumed he
was talking about his divorce and didn't grasp the true
depth of his despair. Meanwhile, Jerry continued reaching out to Shari.
Did you give up on me? He messaged? When there

(01:03:17):
was no response, He followed up a days later with
the simple plea where are you? Jerry scoured Shari's online
presence for answers. He soon found a recent photo she
had posted of herself in her bedroom with a man
he didn't recognize. In a subsequent email to Shari titled

(01:03:42):
this is very important, I wouldn't ignore this if I
were you, Jerry confessed that her lack of communication was
driving him to the brink of insanity. He lamented how
she had eagerly accepted his marriage proposal, only to abandon
him immediately after. He shared that he had taken out
a loan from his mother to buy a plane ticket

(01:04:04):
to Flint and hoped she'd welcome him at the airport,
But when Jerry arrived, Cherie was nowhere to be found.
Jerry headed to her house, arriving at midnight. As usual,
she was absorbed in her computer, where she spent most
nights watching pornography and having erotic conversations in X rated

(01:04:27):
chat rooms. When Cherie opened the door, Jerry begged her
to marry him that very night. She refused, and, to
Jerry's devastation, admitted she was seeing some one else. Unbeknownst
to Jerry. In the immediate aftermath of Bruce's murder, Cherie

(01:04:47):
had begun a relationship with another man. It was typical
behavior for Cherie, who had a reputation for dating much
of Flint before and after marrying Bruce Miller. Throughout their
relationship and marriage, Cherie had engaged in multiple affairs. Bruce
had been warned about some of them, but true to

(01:05:09):
his pacifist nature, he seemed to turn a blind eye. Still,
those around him noticed his once mellow demeanor growing increasingly
sour as the marriage wore on. Devastated by Shari's betrayal,
Jerry lashed out, calling her a whore. Realizing their relationship

(01:05:31):
was effectively over, he revealed he had hidden a briefcase
containing evidence of their plan to murder Bruce Miller. Jerry
then demanded money. Stunned by his blackmail attempt, Scheri composed
herself and asked him to leave, saying she needed time
to think. Shortly after, she sent Jerry an email, using

(01:05:55):
a warm and conciliatory tone, trying to discourage him from
doing anything reckless. She apologized for cheating on him, took
full responsibility for hurting him, and expressed her remorse. In
case he didn't believe her sincerity, she offered him three
thousand dollars to keep quiet. In his reply, Jerry reiterated

(01:06:20):
his love for her, but ultimately accepted her offer. However,
the money never came, and Shari went silent again. In
mid January two thousand, Jerry sent Shari a bitter diatribe,
venting how he had always prioritized her needs and desires,

(01:06:43):
only to be left with nothing. The veil had finally
lifted and Jerry could see through Chari's mind games. He wrote,
I have always believed everything you have told me and
taken it at face value, regardless of how strange it
may have seemed at the time or how it looks

(01:07:03):
in retrospect. I am just to the point that I
can look at things with a clear head and clear
mind and reflect back over the last year of my life.
After that, Jerry began planning his suicide. He wrote goodbyes
to his parents, his youngest son, and his ex wife,

(01:07:24):
apologizing for the pain he was about to inflict upon them.
He also wrote a confession that he left in an
envelope addressed to criminal defense lawyer John O'Connor. Jerry revealed
everything about his affair with Scherie Miller and his role
in the unsolved murder of Bruce Miller in Michigan. I

(01:07:46):
drove there and killed him, he wrote, adding Cherie was
involved and helped set it up. She wanted all her
money and to no more husband. Well, she got her wish,
but she will soon learn that she can't do that
to people. Though he admitted he was quote taking the

(01:08:08):
coward's way out, Jerry said he couldn't face the prospect
of going to prison as a former police officer. He
placed his letters and confession with all the evidence he
had saved over the months in the briefcase under his bed,
intended for his brother Mike to find. He then wrote

(01:08:28):
one final farewell, this time in an email to Shari,
which he titled something to think about Again. He condemned
her for the lies, manipulation, and false promises she had
used against him to get what she wanted. After reminding
her about the briefcase, he warned, now you get to

(01:08:52):
live in fear for a while, wondering and waiting when
will they come? Well, let me assure you it's real
fucking soon. Later, on the same day that Jerry Cassidy
took his own life. An envelope arrived in the mail.

(01:09:14):
It was from Scherie Miller and contained the three thousand
dollars in cash she had promised in exchange for keeping
the contents of his briefcase a secret. With the money
was a brief, handwritten note that rad I didn't lie.
I was telling the truth, but in reality, almost everything

(01:09:36):
Scherie had told Jerry was a lie. The story she
told about previously being married to Bruce's brother, Jeff Miller,
was entirely fabricated. There was no evidence that Bruce had
ever been abusive or involved in any criminal activity. The
images of her bruises appeared to be faked with makeup.

(01:09:59):
The messages from b. D. Junk, who Jerry believed was Bruce,
were from Schari. Chari also couldn't get pregnant, as she
had undergone elective sterilization four years earlier. The ultrasound images
she sent Jerry were from her previous pregnancies, dated from
the early nineteen nineties. Had Jerry examined them closely, he

(01:10:24):
might have noticed the timestamps and realized they didn't add up.
As for the photos of her supposed baby, bump. They
were nothing more than her pushing out her stomach to
sell the illusion. On Jerry's hard drive, investigators uncovered hundreds
of messages he had exchanged with Shari, with their recovered

(01:10:46):
correspondence totaling over seven hundred and fifty printed pages. They
also discovered the candid and explicit photos and home videos
Shari had sent Jerry. The fact that Jerry had the
foresight to document everything was fortunate for the police because
a search of Cheri's computer revealed no trace of any

(01:11:09):
communication with him. In a police interview following the discovery
of the briefcase, Shari Miller rejected all the overwhelming evidence.
While she admitted to communicating with the Jerry Cassaday online,
she denied having an affair with him, telling him she
was pregnant, or that Bruce was abusive. Cheri said she

(01:11:32):
didn't save any of their emails because they would clog
up her hard drive. But just as Jerry Cassaday had
once warned her, loose lips sink ships, given that Shari
hadn't been arrested, she was reminded she could leave the
police interview at any time. Instead, she chose to stay

(01:11:54):
and keep talking The more she spoke, the more she
tangled her in contradictions, repeatedly getting caught in lies. At
one point, she hinted at a possible motive for Bruce's murder,
revealing they were under financial strain. His business was deep
in debt, bills were piling up, and their home needed

(01:12:16):
a new roof and furnace. Still, she continued to deny
any involvement in the deaths of either Bruce or Jerry.
When informed that Jerry had saved all their emails and
instant messages, Cherie appeared unfazed, insisting that digital conversations could

(01:12:37):
easily be fabricated. When asked directly, did you help Jerry
Cassiday plan the murder of Bruce Miller, she firmly denied it.
Told the transcripts of their charts outlined the murder plot,
she responded flatly, you're wrong. That did not happen. Even

(01:13:00):
as the messages were read aloud, Shari dismissed them as bullshit,
maintaining she hadn't authored any of them. Investigators didn't believe her,
and charged her with second degree murder and conspiracy to
commit first degree murder in the death of Bruce Miller.
Sheri Miller stood trial in December two thousand, just over

(01:13:23):
a year after her husband's death. On the stand, she
maintained her innocence, portraying Jerry Cassaday as the manipulative master
minds who exploited her and repeatedly lured her back despite
her attempts to end the relationship once again. By choosing
to speak, she exposed herself in a lie. She testified

(01:13:47):
that their first intimate encounter occurred during their meet up
in August nineteen ninety nine. The prosecution, however, presented a
photo Shari had sent Jerry from their July meeting. On
the back, she had written July seventeenth, nineteen ninety nine,
the first time we made love, Cheri. It was a

(01:14:12):
relatively minor falsehood, but it proved she was willing to
deceive the jury, which undermined her credibility. They ultimately found
Schari Miller guilty. She received a life sentence with a
twenty year minimum for her conspiracy charge and an additional
fifty four to eighty one years for second degree murder.

(01:14:35):
She would be eligible for parole in twenty fifty five
at the age of eighty three. After years spent pursuing appeals.
In two thousand and seven, Shari Miller was granted a
retrial after a federal judge ruled that Jerry Cassaday's written
confession should never have been admitted as evidence since he

(01:14:57):
was deceased and could not be cross ag examined. Efforts
to keep her incarcerated in the meantime failed, and in
July two thousand and nine, she was released on a
one hundred thousand dollar bond. Her time outside prison was
not without controversy. Schari was found to be active on
social media, though this did not violate the terms of

(01:15:20):
her release. In twenty ten, the Court of Appeals upheld
the decision that Jerry's suicide notes were inadmissible. However, in
twenty twelve, the district court reversed course. They reinstated Cheri's convictions,
and she was returned to prison to continue serving her

(01:15:42):
life sentence. The result came as a relief to the
Miller and Cassaday families, who remained firmly convinced Shari was
fully responsible for the deaths of both Bruce and Jerry.
If not for her, they believed that both men would
still be alive. Bruce's brother, Chuck Miller, commented, I believe

(01:16:06):
she has the capacity to delude herself. She's told so
many lies. She always believes what she's saying. Case investigators
shared that view. One detective, who interviewed Chheri three times
following Bruce's murder, initially believed she was innocent. She's very,

(01:16:27):
very good, he admitted, I can see why people believe
her because I believed her lies. After reviewing the extensive
correspondence between Cherie and Jerry, investigators concluded that Jerry wasn't
a gullible fool for trusting her, Chari was simply extraordinarily convincing.

(01:16:50):
Cheri agreed to an exclusive prison interview with Mark Morris
and Paul Janjeski for their book on the case, Fatal Error.
She said she to speak with them to give the
public a fuller understanding of who she was. I'm not
a perfect person, she told them, but I'm not a
horrible person. In the interview, Cheri continued to deny any

(01:17:15):
involvement in the deaths of Bruce Miller or Jerry Cassaday.
She claimed she had no idea how Jerry had obtained
the photos of her bruised body, the images that had
pushed him to kill Scheri described their online relationship as
a shared fantasy involving themes of forced sex and pregnancy

(01:17:36):
that spiraled out of control. She said she should have
ended contact then but didn't. While she claimed to carry
guilt over Jerry's suicide, in the same breath, she stated,
in reality, we kill ourselves for our own selfish reasons.
How am I supposed to feel. I didn't believe he

(01:17:59):
would do it. Now I have to deal with it.
Cherie also spoke about her history of lying and infidelity,
attributing it to unresolved trauma from childhood sexual abuse. I
lied to myself more than to other people, she admitted.

(01:18:19):
I have really screwed up morals, that's for sure. I
have done nothing but lie my whole life, secret after secret.
But when it came to Bruce Miller and to Jerry Cassaday,
she asserted, I have no more secrets. I don't lie
any more. In two thousand sixteen, a letter arrived for

(01:18:43):
Judith Fullerton, the judge who had presided over Scheri Miller's
trial in two thousand. It was from Cherie, herself sent
from prison for many years, I blame to you for
my coming to prison, she wrote. It was easier that way,
or so I thought. I want to tell the truth.

(01:19:06):
Now I know that it may make little difference to
you whether I tell the truth or not, But to
my husband's family or Jerry Cassaday's family, it might mean something.
In the long letter, Cheri described a shaddering moment when
she returned to prison after three years of freedom. As

(01:19:27):
she walked through the prison doors to resume her sentence,
her daughter cried out hysterically, screaming for her not to leave.
Cheri wrote, after that moment, the full impact of what
I had done to Bruce, his friends and family, Jerry
and his friends and family hit me at full force.

(01:19:50):
They will never get to see them again. My daughter
will be able to come see me. Bruce's children will
never get to hug them dad again. I will still
be able to feel my children's arms around me. Bruce's
brother will never be able to sit down and have
a conversation with him again. But my brothers can still

(01:20:13):
come see me. Shari confessed she had been maintaining a
lie for the sixteen years since Bruce's death. While she
had tried to attribute her deceptive behavior to childhood abuse.
She acknowledged this was an attempt to shift the blame
away from herself. She revealed that she had tried to

(01:20:35):
confess the truth to three different attorneys during that time,
but they refused to listen. I cannot do it anymore,
she wrote, I have to tell the truth. If my
attorney doesn't want to hear it, I am sure Bruce's
and Jerry's family will. She revealed that everything she had

(01:20:56):
said about Bruce was a lie. He was a great man,
She clarified. He never hurt me or my children in
any way. All he did was love us. He wanted
to adopt my children. He just wanted a family. He
never raised his voice to me. He gave me anything

(01:21:17):
I ever wanted. I didn't have to work for anything.
His love was free. She also dropped a bombshell, writing
I have lived in denial for so long that I
believed my own lie. I didn't do it, Judge Fullerton.

(01:21:38):
I did it almost exactly the way the prosecutor said
I did. I had sixteen and a half hours to
stop it, and I didn't. I knew it was going
to happen, and I allowed it. I allowed a man
to kill another man based on my lives and manipulation.

(01:22:01):
She went on to write, No matter how hard I try,
I cannot make sense of why I thought that was okay.
I don't deserve freedom. When I think of those sixteen
hours of waiting until Bruce was in the right place
and the right time to end his life, I cannot
stand to live with myself. Sometimes I don't want to

(01:22:23):
fight in court anymore. I don't want Bruce's or Jerry's
family to have to suffer anymore. They have waited sixteen
years to hear me say I am guilty. I did it,
and it sounds so witless, but I am sorry. I
am so so sorry. I hurt a lot of people.

(01:22:45):
I destroyed a lot of lives. It is time to
end the lies and tell the truth. Thank you for
not letting me, in any way get away with murder,
Judge Fullerton. And and I'm so sorry for wasting so
many hours, days, weeks, and months of your time in

(01:23:05):
that courtroom. I knew I was wrong, and I thought
I could get away with it. Today now I am
glad I did not get away with it.